A Pleashipping Auld Lang Sine
by Queen Nephthys
Summary: After a bad break up in high school, Isis and Mahad go their seperate ways. But they still love each other, and wish that they could go back to the way things were. But it's too late now. Pleashipping. Songfic for Same Auld Lang Sine. Merry Christmas!


Hello to all and Happy Holidays! I'm spreading the Christmas cheer here on with this little Christmas present: A pleashipping songfic for Same Auld Lang Sine. For those of you who don't know the song, I would highly recommend looking it up; it's a great song! I've had the idea for this fic in my head for years, and now I'm finally able to to publish it on here. I hope all you Pleashipping fans like my little present, and have a happy holiday season.

Pairing(s): Pleashipping (duh), mention of IsisxSeto and KarimxOC U HAV BEEN WARNED!

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><p>There shouldn't be shops open on Christmas Eve, not even grocery stores. Sure, keep the hospitals and police stations open; there's always people driving drunk and setting their kitchen on fire this night every year, but the stores are completely unnecessary. You're keeping people away from their families on the most important holiday of the year just to make an extra buck!<p>

I know that I'm sort of a hypocrite for thinking that, considering I'm shopping at a grocery store on Christmas Eve, but I haven't exactly had time to go out and pick up an apple pie and pass it off as being home made this year. Not with that tour my manager threw at me at the last possible minute. Fortunately, I was able to sneak away from that for the holidays to see my family, but that jackass didn't want to let me go until an hour ago, and even then I had to sneak away from my hotel room just to get to this place. So now here I am, doing the one thing that every human being on the face of the earth dreads of doing on December 24th: last minute shopping. As it is, I still have to pick up something for my parents and little sister.

It almost feels a little awkward shopping for my own groceries, after having someone else bring my food to me for so long. This is a small town, though, so I hope not as many people will notice me.

But as I turned the corner to the frozen foods section, I did see someone that _I_ recognized. Someone I never thought I would ever see again.

**Met my old lover in the grocery store**

**The snow was falling Christmas Eve**

**I stole behind her in the frozen foods**

**And I touched her on the sleeve**

At first, I was wondering if I should approach her. I mean, my _God_! I hadn't seen her since high school, not after that fight we had. And it had initially been my fault for the break up. She probably still hated me. Or worse, she had probably forgotten about me completely. She had gotten married, that much I knew, though I didn't like to think about it. She probably had kids. I _really_ didn't like to think about that. The point was, it's been over for a long time, and I no longer had a place in her life.

But I hadn't forgotten about her. I still remembered her every day of my life. Almost every song I'd ever written had always been about her, about _us_, and about how stupid I had been to ever let her go. Everything I had ever wanted to say to her, but never could, because she was gone. And now here she was, standing only a few feet away in a winter jacket, boots, ear muffs, and a scarf, in the frozen foods section of some small town grocery store. With no husband or kids to be seen.

I never once believed that there was such a thing as a Christmas miracle, not even now, but this came pretty close. It wasn't the dramatic, passionate reunion I had always hoped for, but at least with this I could finally talk to her, settle what happened between us, put us back on good terms. Now _that_ would be a miracle!

I walked up to her, purposely taking my time. After all the years of hoping, _praying_ for a chance like this, the moment was finally here, and I couldn't think of what to say or do. _Hi, you remember me from high school? I'm the jerk who broke your heart and ran off on you because I was a selfish bastard. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. Merry Christmas!_ Yeah, that would go over smoothly. But I had to say something, she was about to walk away.

So, not knowing what else to do, I reached out and touched her arm.

"Isis." I said, her name tasting so sweet on my tongue. It had been years since I had spoken her name; I had forgotten how beautiful it was.

She turned around, looking disbelieving, almost afraid. I swallowed, taking her in. She hadn't changed at all. She was ten years older from when we last met, she was slightly taller, and more mature, but her ebony hair was still the same length, she still had that perfect figure, the same slender hands, and the same large, beautiful blue eyes. She was still perfect.

"Hi ..." I started. "It's been a while."

**She didn't recognize the face at first**

**But then her eyes flew open wide**

**She went to hug me and she spilled her purse**

**And we laughed until we cried**

I saw her brows furrow, trying to put a name to the face. I had thought as much; she didn't remember me after all.

"Look, I know you don't remember me, but I..."

"Mahad?" she asked softly, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. She recognized me? She _remembered_ me? I looked her in the eyes and gave a short nod, too shocked to do anything else.

Instantly, her eyes widened and she gasped, as though she couldn't believe it was true. Our breakup came back to me then, and I was certain she was going to hit me or run away or tell me that I had some nerve for showing my face to her after what happened.

"Oh, my God." She whispered. "Oh, my _God_! It really is you."

I opened my mouth to try and say something, even though I still couldn't think of anything to say. Fortunately, I didn't have the chance, because she had suddenly wrapped her arms around me, losing her purse on the floor in the process. I was too shocked for words, or anything else for that matter. My mind was flashing back to all those times we had embraced; none of them matched up to now.

Her face was buried into my coat, but I was able to hear that she was laughing. I started to laugh right along with her, not caring that a few people around us were giving us strange looks. We just kept laughing until it hurt, and tears were in our eyes, but not from laughing.

**We took our groceries to the check-out stand**

**The food was totaled up and bagged**

**We stood there lost in our embarrassment**

**as the conversation dragged**

"It's been so long since I've seen you." she said as we took our groceries up to the check-out. "I can't believe I ran into you at the grocery store, of all places!"

I chuckled. "Yeah, I had always hoped that when I saw you again, it would be somewhere classy like Rome or Paris, or in front of the world's biggest ball of yarn...!"

"Oh, shut up!" she said with a laugh. "How did you know we would ever see each other again?"

"Well... I hoped that we would, anyway." I admitted, blushing. I glanced at her, and could see that she was blushing, too.

"Uh, how... how's your sister?" I asked, hoping to change the conversation. She smiled when her sister was brought up. "She's doing wonderful. She just got her third novel published."

"Yeah, I know. " I said. "I bought it when it first hit the shelves. Her first book is still the best."

She smiled again. "She'll be glad to hear that. That you bought her book, I mean." she explained with a laugh. "She missed you after we... I mean..." she stuttered. I knew she was trying to tiptoe around the topic of our breakup. Maybe she was trying to forget it altogether. "She hoped that you wouldn't forget her after you became a success."

"It's impossible to forget about someone with as much character as her." I replied, laughing. "Hey, did she and Karim ever... hook up?" It had been meant as a joke, so I was shocked when Isis nodded her head in response.

"They've been dating through college. Karim's got a ring on handy; I'm expecting him to propose any day now. I _hope_ he proposes any day now."

"I just hope I'm invited to the wedding." I said.

By this time, both of our groceries had been paid for and in bags. We looked at each other, wanting to say something, but unsure of whether we should.

"Well, I'll walk you out to your car and be on my way." I said. "I'll have to go home and... pretend to bake angel food cake."

"Is that your way of saying you're not busy?" she asked.

"No, but I'm sure you're busy, if you're shopping for food on Christmas Eve." I said.

"Maybe I just like to stay busy." she responded in a way that suggested I should have known that. "But if you're not busy... maybe you'd like to get a drink with me somewhere."

We were in front of her car now, packing her groceries into the back seat. I glanced at some of the things in her bags. My eyes were drawn to a bottle of wine, a brick of Colby Jack cheese, a box of Ritz crackers, a bag of sponge candy, and boxes of frozen dinner meals for two.

"That would be great," I said, trying to express all of my enthusiasm in just those four words, and failing miserably because of what I knew I had to say next. "but I don't want to cause any trouble for you; I'm sure you want to spend Christmas Eve with your husband."

Her face instantly dropped when I said that, and she leaned her frame against the side of the car. She took a breath, then looked back up at me. "My... my husband's working tonight. He won't be home until late, if he comes home at all."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just accepted her offer to go out for drinks and got into the passenger's seat of her car. I couldn't believe that. It was Christmas Eve, and her husband was working? A man who doesn't have to work a day in his life was working on Christmas Eve, while his wife, my ex-girlfriend, was shopping for their dinner, that she would end up eating alone! I should have punched that prick the minute I found out he was dating Isis.

**We went to have ourselves a drink or two**

**But couldn't find an open bar**

**We bought a six pack at the liquor store **

**And we drank it in her car**

It only took five minutes for us to pull out of the parking lot and onto the road that I remembered one of the less wonderful things about Isis: she was a _terrible_ driver! She had gotten her driver's license while we were dating, and she would always glare at me because I would always wear a hard hat when she drove us places. I had thrown that hat out not a week after our breakup.

I think I regret that more than I regret breaking up with Isis.

We drove around a few streets for about a half an hour, but every bar we drove by was closed for the holiday. Really, if the stores are open on Christmas Eve but the bars aren't, that just makes a bad statement. Go figure, the liquor stores were still open, so we just bought a six pack of beer and drank it in her car.

**We drank a toast to innocence**

**We drank a toast to now**

**And tried to reach beyond the emptiness**

**But neither one knew how**

"Since it's Christmas Eve, I think we should make a toast" she said, taking two cans of beer out of the plastic rings and handing one to me. I opened it and held it between us.

"Sounds good; what would you like to toast to?" I asked.

"Innocence." she said quietly. There was something sad in her voice, something longing. I softened my gaze at her as she lifted her can to mine, only a centimeter keeping them apart. I wondered what she meant by that, but I didn't question it. Instead, I smiled and clinked our cans together, trying to forget about the empty feeling in my heart. I knew she was trying to do the same.

"To innocence, then." I said, my voice barely above a whisper before I put the beer can to my lips and took a long, giant gulp.

**She said she married her an architect**

**Who kept her warm and safe and dry**

**She would have liked to say she loved the man**

**But she didn't like to lie**

"So," I began, trying to get the conversation flowing again. "You mentioned that your husband was working tonight. What does he do?" I tried to play dumb, to act like I was completely ignorant to just **who** the scumbag was that she had married, who kept her alone on the holidays and probably only married her just to spite him in the first place. My mind flashed back to the invitation I had received to their wedding about five years ago. I'm certain Isis hadn't seen it, because it had been less an invitation and more an angry letter stating, in excessive detail, just what her fiancé was going to do to Isis on their wedding night. Needless to say, I had not attended their wedding.

"Oh, well...uh." she stuttered. "He's an architect. Building designs, mostly. There's a deadline they're trying to meet for next month, and they're behind schedule, so he's been working a lot of overtime."

It took all the willpower I had not to laugh at her. An architect. I knew she was going to lie about it, but I didn't expect her lie to sound so... rehearsed, as though it was what she said to everyone who asked her who her husband was. She probably assumed that the newspapers had only advertised their wedding locally. But she hadn't just married any wealthy businessman; she had married Seto Kaiba, the world's _youngest_ and _richest_ wealthy businessman. It had been all over the place. That was initially how I had found out. I wished it had just been local, though. I might have never found out, and I could have actually believed that she was married to some anybody architect right now, rather than the rich kid from high school that I hated more than anything.

"I see." I said, "Does he... always get these deadlines around the holidays." I could blame the alcohol for that remark later if I had to.

It looked as though I would have to, because her gaze sharpened, and her lips curved into a scowl. "If you're implying anything, Mahad, I want you to know that it's not like it sounds. My husband and I have a very warm, close relationship. And he takes care of me, protects me. I couldn't have asked for anything better." her voice quivered slightly.

"So, you really love him, huh?" I asked. The question was genuine, with no venom in it. I had to know if she did. If she did, then I would have to leave. There was a long pause as I waited for her response. She just kept her eyes facing downward, looking at anything but me. She wanted to say 'yes', I know she did, but I also knew that she hated lying, and she had lied twice already.

**I said the years had been a friend to her**

**And that her eyes were still as blue**

**And in those eyes I wasn't sure if I**

**Saw doubt or gratitude**

I finished the contents of my beer, placed the empty can in the cup holder, and reached for another one. Isis caught my motions, and quickly downed the rest of her beverage, reaching for a second can as well. "How about another toast?" she asked.

I nodded. "To the present." I said, raising my new can.

"The present." she repeated in a quiet voice. She didn't raise her can this time, and instead just took a halfhearted sip.

"Hey." I touched her shoulder to make sure I had her attention. "I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to pry into your affairs; I just want to know if you're happy."

In the light of the street lamp we were under, I was able to see a single tear fall from her eye. She quickly wiped it away with her finger, hoping I hadn't seen. "Yes, I'm happy." she replied. "More than you know. I get to spend tonight with someone I've wanted to see again for a long time now." I could tell she hadn't meant to say that. I acted like I didn't hear her.

"I recognized you instantly in the store." I said. "You haven't changed a bit. The years have really been a friend to you."

The blush on her face, a beautiful concoction of the cold, the alcohol, and her own embarrassment, increased when I said this, and she quickly looked out window, suddenly finding the rapidly falling snow interesting.

"You're exaggerating." she stated.

"I'm serious." I said. "I knew it was you when I saw your eyes. They're still as blue and beautiful as I remembered them." Her blush deepened, but she turned her face so that her eyes were looking directly into mind. Yes, they hadn't changed a bit. Neither had she.

There was something in her eyes that I couldn't place, however. I knew the look, had seen it multiple times, but I couldn't tell if she was giving me that look because she doubted what I said, or because she was grateful for words that her so-called husband never told her.

**She said she saw me at the record store**

**And that I must be doing well**

**I said the audience was heavenly**

**but the travelling was hell**

"Well, you're doing pretty good yourself." She said. "I've bought a few of your songs off of iTunes. You're one of the biggest rock stars out there right now, aren't you? You got your dream."

This had been one of the reasons we had broken up, I remembered, because of my performing. Because I wanted to from private gigs at friends' parties to a full audience on a million dollar stage. Because I had forgotten her.

"Actually, it's not all it's cracked up to be." I admitted. "You remember how I always said I wanted to do those big tours, and have bodyguards to keep away all the rabid fans if I ever got that famous?" She nodded and smiled, reminiscing in those memories of our youth. "I was wrong. I was so. Damn. Wrong. Nowadays I sign whatever someone throws in my face just so I don't have to get back on that Godforsaken bus, with that Hell-sent manager. Jetlag is an understatement to what I feel from all the travelling."

She smiled in empathy. I could imagine she went through the same thing when she walked out of a building on Kaiba's arm.

**We drank a toast to innocence**

**We drank a toast to now**

**And tried to reach beyond the emptiness**

**But neither one knew how**

We both grabbed for another beer, putting our newly emptied cans in the back seats' cup holders. Our hands touched, and we looked up at each other. She was gazing at me, the same way she had gazed at me back at school, with adoration and kindness. The same look of love that I thought I was no longer worthy of receiving. I wished that I could kiss her again, that I could pull her close to me and tell her how much I love her. I no longer had that right, though, and so, when I realized that our faces had moved closer together, I forced myself to move away. She looked hurt that I had, yet at the same time, understanding.

So we took the last two beers, opened them up, and clinked them together.

"To time?" I supplied.

She smiled. "To time." she agreed. We both took a drink. I tried to cherish the taste of it as much as I could, only taking small sips, trying to prolong the inevitable. This moment, what was occurring between she and I, it couldn't last forever, no matter how much I wished for it to. Eventually, she would have to go back home, and wait for her husband to come back as well. If he ever came back home for Christmas.

"Time heals all wounds." I said.

**We drank a toast to innocence**

**We drank a toast to time**

**And living in our eloquence**

**Another Auld Lang Sine**

"It should." she agreed.

"Has it?"

She faced me, her face serious, looking me right in the eye. She had tears streaming lightly down her cheeks. I wished that I could kiss them away. But we both know this had to be done, we had to have closure on what happened, or we couldn't move on. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to move on.

"I never wanted it to end." she admitted. "I really wish that we didn't have to part ways after tonight, Mahad. And I wish that we were doing this as a..." she sighed, more tears falling. "But it's impossible to go back now. We'll never be able to be together again. It took me five years to understand that, and another five years to accept it."

"It took me ten years to understand that." I said sadly. "I'm still not used to it, though."

"Neither am I." she stated, her voice beginning to quiver. "I've wanted to go back so much, for so long."

"How long?"

"Since the day we broke up. Since the minute I told you I never wanted to see you again." She finally burst into tears, and I acted solely on memory, pulling her as close to me as I could, and letting her weep into my shoulder as I stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry." she whispered. "I'm making things harder than they should be, like always."

"Don't worry about it." I comforted her. "I've waited ten years to be able to hold you again, so it's worth it, even if you're sad."

Eventually, she stopped crying, and lightly pushed herself off of me. The space between us felt more painful than burning coals on my chest. I wished that I could hold her again, but I knew that we would never let go of one another if that happened.

"I'm sorry." she said. "Not about that scene, but about what happened. I never meant a word I said to you. Do you forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me for being such an ass to you before." I said.

She shook her head. "You never had to ask."

**The beer was empty and our tongues were tired**

**And running out of things to say**

**She gave a kiss to me as I got out**

**And I watched her drive away**

Eventually, we had finished all the beer, and what needed to be said had been said. I wished that I could think of something more to say, or ask her, but nothing came out.

"It's getting late." She said reluctantly. "I need to get back home. Well, I should get home, at least."

"Yeah." I said. Say something. Say _anything!_ Just don't let her get away again. Don't make the same mistake twice. "Well..."

"Goodbye, Mahad." Isis said. "It was... so wonderful to see you again. Really, I'm glad we had this chance to...make amends."

I nodded, opening the passenger's door and sticking my foot out. I paused for a moment though, knowing I would jump off the balcony of my hotel room later if I didn't at least try right now to make a difference, if even a small one. I turned back to her.

"You know, we've gone our separate ways." I stated. "But if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep in touch with you. Want to exchange e-mails? Or phone numbers?"

She was silent for a minute, and I was scared for what the outcome of such a request would be. But then she smiled.

"I'd like that very much, Mahad." she said earnestly, leaning forward and pressing her lips to mine. Suddenly, I was back in school, in front of my locker with my arms around my girlfriend, while Karim was heckling us, Shada was shaking his head, Isis was leaning up to kiss me, and I was thinking how one day, I would be married to that girl in my arms, and travel the world with her, giving her everything her heart desired. I had her so close to me, not just in body, but in heart. She was all mine, and I was all hers. Nothing else mattered, not even my dreams, or my music, or anything else but her. And it hit me then, more than in all these ten years, that I had been a fool to let her get away. I was an idiot for not going after, for not making up with her before she had been picked up by Seto. For not buying flowers, writing her a song and singing it to her on the front lawn of her house the same night we had fallen out. For not saying I loved her enough.

The kiss was broken then, and I was back in reality, in the now, in the what really happened. She was looking at me with eyes full of pity. "But I don't think that my husband would approve." she finished. She regretted those words as much as I did. I realized then that I had started to cry when she had kissed me, because she reached her hands out to wipe the tears away.

I didn't know what else to do from there. It was over. It was really over. She would never be mine again. I wouldn't even get to see her again after tonight. She would be out of my life forever. And I would only have myself to blame.

All I did from there was nod, and got out of her car, slowly closing the door behind me. She didn't even glance back at me as she drove away, back to her house, back to the life she wish she didn't have.

As I walked back to my hotel, the snow had stopped falling, and instead turned to rain. To me, it felt like the heavens were crying for me, for us, and for what could have been. I'm glad that they were crying, though.

It let me hide the fact that I was still crying.

**Just for a moment I was back at school**

**And felt that old, familiar pain**

**And as I turned to make my way back home**

**The snow turned into rain**

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><p>Happy Holidays! I hope you enjoyed this pleashipping Auld Lang Sine!<p>

R&R at your leisure.


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